Method for dwarfing lilies

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide a method of lily bulb dwarfing treatment which can be performed before planting, be practiced easily and permit to obtain a uniform dwarfing effect without any special experience and to provide thus dwarfing treated lily bulbs. Namely, according to the present invention, lily bulbs are submitted to the sprouting treatment, then thus sprouted lily bulbs are soaked in a dwarfing agent.

Description: Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment wherein lily bulbs are submitted to the sprouting treatment to obtain dwarfing treated lily bulb. Background of the Invention Lilies are tall except several dwarf spices, so many spices are unfit for potting, for instance, in a flower pot, with a conventional cultivation method. In lily cultivation, therefore, the production is achieved with pot by using drawfing agent. Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi), Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic), Ancymidol (trade name : A-Rest), Daminazid (trade name : B-NINE), Chlorocholine chloride (trade name : Cycocel) are used as dwarfing agent for many plants. Conventional dwarfing methods using dwarfing agent consist of spraying the agent on stem and leaves or pouring the agent into the soil when plant has grown substantially. In addition to the dwarfing methods mentioned before, methods consisting in soaking bulbs or seed in a dwarfing agent or using soil containing a dwarfing agent for the cultivation (refer to : TOKKYO-KOKAI-KOHO (18-month Publication of Unexamined Patent Application) HEISEI 1(1989)-153024 (hereinafter referred to as TOKKAIHEI 1-153024) and others are also known. JP-A-1235527 describes a dwarfing method of rice, corn, wheat, Panicum and Japanese millet. 5-azacytidine is used as dwarfing agent for these plants which belong to the family of Poaceae. EP-A-0 174 461 discloses a method for dwarfing treatment of plants by using a planting pot with a volume being too low to obtain complete growth of the plant. As for methods for dwarfing a lily, those consisting in conserving lily bulbs for a long period in a refrigerator (refer to : TOKKAIHEI 4-84836) or soaking bulbs in a dwarfing agent before planting are known. However, problems have been reported for dwarfing methods by spraying a dwarfing agent on stem and leaves or pouring it into the soil because the dwarfing can not be performed before planting lily bulbs, and they need some experience and skill given the dwarfing is influenced by the date of treatment or the concentration of dwarfing agent. etc. On the other hand, the method of soaking lily bulbs in a dwarfing agent permits to perform the dwarfing treatment before planting, but it has been difficult to get uniform dwarfing because lily sprouts may die, dwarfed insufficiently or irregularly and similar problems have occurred depending on the dwarfing agent concentration or the treating time. Moreover, other problems such as lower leaves withering or stem becoming weak have also prevented the lily dwarfing by bulb soaking to be practiced. The present invention is realized in view of problems mentioned above and intends to provide a method of lily bulb dwarfing treatment which can be performed before planting, be practiced easily and permits to obtain a uniform dwarfing effect without any special experience and to provide thus dwarfing treated lily bulbs. Disclosure of the Invention The inventor has eagerly studied the method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment, found, as a result, the said object can be achieved by soaking sprouted lily bulbs in a particular dwarfing agent and thus accomplished the present invention. More particularly, the first invention concerns a method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment wherein lily bulbs are submitted to the sprouting treatment and then thus sprouted lily bulbs are soaked in a dwarfing agent in accordance with claim 1. According to a preffered embodiment the sprout length of lily bulb submitted to lily bulb sprouting treatment is 0.5 cm or longer. Preferably the sprout length of lily bulb submitted to lily bulb sprouting treatment is in the range of 0.5 cm to 5.0 cm. The lily bulbs obtained by the method of the present invention may be cultivated in a lily cultivation set comprising a vessel and a lily bulb planted in the vessel. Now, the present invention shall be described more in detail hereunder. Lily bulbs to be used for the present invention are those conserved and stocked for a short period of less than one (1) year as is the general practice. Lily bulb sprouting treatment of the present invention shall be performed by gradually heating lily bulbs stocked by freezing or refrigeration (after defrosting), then leaving them at 15 to 25°C or more preferably about 20°C. It is preferable that the sprout length of thus treated lily bulbs be 0.5 cm or more and, more preferably, within 0.5 to 5.0 cm. If the sprout is shorter than 0.5 cm, the dwarfing may have no or weak effect and if it is longer than 5.0 cm, sprouts may be damaged during the treatment and both cases are as much undesirable problems. Dwarfing agents to be used for the present invention are Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi), Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic), Ancymidol (trade name : A-Rest), Daminazid (trade name : B-NINE), Chlorocholine chloride (trade name : Cycocel). The dwarfing agent concentration to be adopted for the dwarfing treatment of the present invention varies substantially depending on the kind of dwarfing agent to be used, it is generally within the range of 5 ppm to 400 ppm. More particularly, when Pacrobuprazol(trade name : Bonzi) is used as dwarfing agent, its preferable concentration is 50 ppm to 400 ppm and its optimal concentration is 100 ppm to 300 ppm. When Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic) is used, its preferable concentration is 5 ppm to 100 ppm and its optimal concentration is 10 ppm to 50 ppm. The soaking time in the dwarfing agent to be used for the present invention depends largely on the kind of adopted dwarfing agent and its concentration, however, the preferable soaking time range is 5 to 90 minutes and its optimal time range is 10 to 60 minutes. If the treatment time is shorter than 5 minutes, the dwarfing effect may not become uniform and if it exceeds 90 minutes, lily bulbs may die. Nevertheless, the present invention is not limited to what is mentioned hereabove, but it is possible to control the lily height by adjusting the concentration of the dwarfing agent to be used for the soaking or by adjusting the soaking time depending on the kind of dwarfing agent or the sprout length. Using lily bulbs treated in this way, the lily dwarfing can be performed easily and using a cultivation set in which a dwarfing treated lily bulb is planted in a vessel like a flower pot, anyone can cultivate a dwarfed lily easily in a room or elsewhere just like as ordinary ornamental plants without special care. As for the vessel used for the lily cultivation set, we can name ordinary plastic pots, porcelain pots, glass pots, planters and others. For the soil, peat moss, Kanuma soil, Akadama soil, Vermiculite or black soil can be used independently or in combination and they can be blended with fertilizer or the like beforehand. According to the present invention, it is possible to get dwarfing treated lily bulbs before planting by soaking sprouting treated lily bulbs in a dwarfing agent, and the lily dwarfing can be performed without any treatment after planting. Additionally, lily dwarfing method of the present invention permits not only to get dwarfing treated lily bulbs before planting, but also to treat them according to clear judgement criteria, namely the sprout length, so as to control the dwarfing degree or to regularize the plant height without any special experience. Moreover, the lily cultivation set can be composed by planting dwarfing treated lily bulbs in a vessel like a flower pot and anyone can enjoy to cultivate the dwarfed lily without special care by using this cultivation set. Description of the Preferred Embodiments Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more in detail, however they do not intend to limit the present invention in anyway. (Example 1) Casa Blanca (Oriental hybrid) lily bulbs of 19 to 22 cm in circumference were used. Freeze-stocked lily bulbs were defrosted, heated gradually and left at 20°C for 10 days to obtain a sprout length of 0.5 to 1.0 cm or left at 20°C for 14 days to obtain a sprout length of 2.5 to 4.0 cm. Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic) was used as the dwarfing agent and the said lily bulbs were soaked in Uniconazole of 25 ppm for 60 minutes. Each of lily bulbs submitted to the said dwarfing treatment was planted in a No.6 pot with the soil used for the ordinary lily cultivation with non-treated group (without dwarfing treatment) and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a room. Each of the lily bulbs whose sprout length is 0 cm (non sprout bulbs) soaked in Uniconazole of 25 ppm for 60 minutes (treated group) and non sprout bulbs without soaking (non treated group) were also planted in a No.6 pot and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a room. Lily bulbs were planted on January the 31st and cultivated with ordinary care. No difference in days required for flowering was observed between the groups and no withered lower leaves nor weak stem was observed in either the treated group or the non-treated group. On the 123rd day (June the 2nd), the number of flowers per plant and the height from the ground to the flower top were measured to obtain the average. The result is shown in Table 1. Sprout length (cm) Group Plant height (cm) Number of flowers per pot 0 Non-treated 115 4.7 Treated 112 4.6 0.5 to 1.0 Non-treated 112 4.5 Treated 25 4.2 2.5 to 4.0 Non-treated 113 4.0 Treated 17 3.8 As obviously shown in Table 1, no dwarfing effect was observed in the group where non sprouted bulbs were soaked in a dwarfing agent while the effect was recognized in the group where sprouted bulbs were soaked. Moreover, we found that the longer the sprout was when bulbs were soaked, the higher was the dwarfing effect. (Example 2) Casa Blanca (Oriental hybrid) lily bulbs of 19 to 22 cm in circumference were used as in the Example 1. Freeze-stocked lily bulbs were defrosted, heated gradually and left at 20°C for 10 days to obtain a sprout length of 0.5 to 1.0 cm or left at 20°C for 14 days to obtain a sprout length of 2.5 to 4.0 cm. Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi) was used as the dwarfing agent and the said lily bulbs were soaked in Pacrobuprazol of 200 ppm for 20 minutes. Each of lily bulbs submitted to the said dwarfing treatment was planted in a No.6 pot with the soil used for the ordinary lily cultivation with non-treated group (without dwarfing treatment) and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a room. Each of the lily bulbs whose sprout length was 0 cm (non sprout bulbs) soaked in Pacrobuprazol of 200 ppm for 20 minutes (treated group) and non sprout bulbs without soaking (non treated group) were also planted in a No.6 pot and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a room. Lily bulbs were planted on January the 31st and cultivated with ordinary care. No difference in days required for flowering was observed between the groups and no withered lower leaves nor weak stem was observed in either the treated group or the non-treated group. On the 123rd day (June the 2nd), the number of flower per plant and the height from the ground to the flower top were measured to determine the average. The result is shown in Table 2. Sprout length (cm) Group Plant height (cm) Number of flowers per pot 0 Non-treated 115 4.7 Treated 117 4.1 0.5 to 1.0 Non-treated 112 4.5 Treated 45 4.3 2.5 to 4.0 Non-treated 113 4.0 Treated 20 3.8 As obviously shown in Table 2, no dwarfing effect was observed in the group where non sprouted bulbs were soaked in a dwarfing agent while the effect was recognized in the group where sprouted bulbs were soaked. Moreover, we had found that the longer the sprout was when bulbs were soaked, the higher was the dwarfing effect. (Example 3) Casa Blanca (Oriental hybrid) lily bulbs of 19 to 22 cm in circumference were used as in the Example 1. Freeze-stocked lily bulbs were defrosted, heated gradually and left at 20°C for 10 days to obtain a sprout length of 0.5 to 2.0 cm. Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic) and Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi) were used as dwarfing agent and the said lily bulbs were soaked changing the treatment parameters such as the concentration of the dwarfing agents and the soaking time as shown in the Table 3. Each of lily bulbs submitted to the said dwarfing treatment was planted in a No.6 pot with the soil used for the ordinary lily cultivation with non-treated group (without dwarfing treatment) and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a greenhouse. Lily bulbs were planted on April the 9th and cultivated with ordinary care. No difference in days required for flowering was observed between the groups and no withered lower leaves nor weak stem was observed in either the treated group or the non-treated group. On the 97th day (July the 15th), the number of flower per plant and the height from the ground to the flower top were measured to determine the average. The result is shown in Table 3. Dwarfing agent Concentration (ppm) Soaking time (min.) Plant height (cm) Number of flowers per pot Uniconazole 25 30 18 3.6 25 60 16 3.4 50 30 15 4.0 50 60 10 5.8 Pacrobuprazol 100 10 42 4.6 100 20 40 4.8 100 30 36 3.4 100 60 32 3.2 200 10 34 5.3 200 20 32 5.2 200 30 27 3.2 200 60 25 3.3 As shown in Table 3, it was found that Uniconazole was more effective than Pacrobuprazol at a lower concentration and for the same dwarfing agent, it was more effective at higher concentration and longer treatment time. (Example 4) Casa Blanca (Oriental hybrid) lily bulbs of 19 to 22 cm in circumference were used as in the Example 1. Freeze-stocked lily bulbs were defrosted, heated gradually and left at 20°C for 10 days to obtain a sprout length of 0.5 to 2.0 cm. Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi) was used as the dwarfing agent and the said lily bulbs were soaked in Pacrobuprazol of 100 ppm for 30 minutes. The said dwarfing treatment was performed immediately before the planting and then bulbs were planted on different date, as in the Example 1, in a No.6 pot with the soil used for the ordinary lily cultivation with non-treated group (without dwarfing treatment) and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a greenhouse. Lily bulbs were planted on April the 21st and June the 24th and cultivated with ordinary care. No difference in days required for flowering was observed between the treated group and the non-treated group, however the difference was noted according to the planting date. After the flowering, namely on the 90th day (July the 20th) and on the 65th day (August the 28th), the number of flower per plant and the height from the ground to the flower top were measured to determine the average. The result is shown in Table 4. Planted date Group Plant height (cm) Number of days requiered for flowering No. of flowers per pot Apr.21 Non-treated 90 90 2.7 Treated 60 90 3.7 Jun.24 Non-treated 81 65 3.6 Treated 41 65 3.4 It was made obvious from Table 4 that, with the same treatment parameters, the height of lily and the number of days required for flowering varied according to the planted date and more evident dwarfing effect could be achieved by planting them in June than in April. (Example 5) Le Rêve (Oriental hybrid) lily bulbs of 13 to 15 cm in circumference were used. Freeze-stocked lily bulbs were defrosted, heated gradually and left at 20°C for 14 days to obtain a sprout length of 2.5 to 4.0 cm. Uniconazole (trade name : Sumagic) and Pacrobuprazol (trade name : Bonzi) were used as dwarfing agent and the said lily bulbs were soaked changing the treatment parameters such as the concentration of the dwarfing agents and the soaking time as shown in Table 5. Each of lily bulbs submitted to the said dwarfing treatment was planted in a No.6 pot with the soil used for the ordinary lily cultivation and ten (10) of each group were cultivated in a greenhouse. Lily bulbs were planted on September the 13th and cultivated with ordinary care. No difference in days required for flowering was observed between the groups and no withered lower leaves nor weak stem was observed in either the treated group or the non-treated group. On the 67th day (November the 19th), the number of flower per plant and the height from the ground to the flower top were measured to determine the average. The result is shown in Table 5. Dwarfing agent Concentration (ppm) Soaking time (min.) Plant height (cm) Number of flowers per pot Non-treated -- -- 28 2.5 Uniconazole 25 60 7 2.4 50 60 5 2.0 Pacrobuprazol 200 60 20 1.5 300 60 9 1.7 From Table 5, it was found that the dwarfing effect by a dwarfing agent could be obtained also with Le Rêve, species other than Casa Blanca.

Claims: Method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment wherein lily bulbs are submitted to the sprouting treatment and then thus sprouted lily bulbs are soaked in at least one dwarfing agent selected from the group of Pacrobuprazol, Uniconazole, Ancymidol, Daminazid and Chlorocholine chloride. Method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment of claim 1 wherein the sprout length of lily bulb submitted to lily bulb sprouting treatment is 0.5 cm or longer. Method for lily bulb dwarfing treatment of claim 1 wherein the sprout length of lily bulb submitted to lily bulb sprouting treatment is in the range of 0.5 cm to 5.0 cm.

Inventors: DAIMON JUNKO, TAKEDA YASUO, DAIMON, JUNKO, TAKEDA, YASUO, DAIMON, JUNKO, C/O APPLIED PLANT RESEARCH LAB., TAKEDA, YASUO, C/O APPLIED PLANT RESEARCH LAB.
Applicants: JAPAN TOBACCO INC, JAPAN TOBACCO INC.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A01H3
IPC codes: A01H3, A01G7, A01G1